Library Research Guides: AFR 299: Caribbean Cultural Expressions & the Diaspora: Primary Sources & Key Websites

Primary Source Collections

Digital Library of the Caribbean
The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is a cooperative digital library for resources from and about the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean.
Caribbean Newspaper Digital Library
dLOC provides access to digitized versions of Caribbean newspapers, gazettes, and other research materials on newsprint currently held in archives, libraries, and private collections.
Digital Archive of Latin American & Caribbean Ephemera
Rare pamphlets, flyers, leaflets, brochures, posters, stickers, and postcards that document political and social issues in the region. 20th century-present
Slave Voyages
Searchable and sortable databases of the Trans-Atlantic and Intra-American slave trades as well as the names of African people taken into captivity. Users can sort data on point of departure, gender, slave ship captain, and many many more variables. Site includes image galleries that contextualize data with historical maps, ship manifests, drawings, and more.
Global Music Archive
Multi-media archive and resource center for traditional and popular song, music, and dance of Africa and North and South America, with particular emphasis on the African Diaspora.
Biblioteca Digital Puertoriquena
La Biblioteca Digital Puertorriqueña de la Universidad de Puerto Rico es un repositorio en línea de imágenes y texto relacionadas con la historia y la cultura puertorriqueña.

The following collections are part of AM Explorer, a large database of primary source collections from Adam Matthew Digital. A Wellesley login is required.

Colonial Caribbean This link opens in a new window
Covering the history of Caribbean territories under British colonial governance from 1624 to 1870, this resource includes administrative documentation, trade and shipping records, minutes of council meetings, and details of plantation life, colonial settlement, imperial rivalries, and the growing concern of absentee landlords.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Material in the collection spans across the globe and over five centuries, from the explorations of Columbus and other Europeans, through to de-colonisation in the second half of the 20th century and debates over American Imperialism.
American Indian Histories and Cultures This link opens in a new window
Documents relating to American Indian history in the United States, Canada and Mexico, including treaties, speeches and diaries, historic maps and travel journals, and artwork. Includes material on the Caribbean.
Ethnomusicology: Global Field Recordings This link opens in a new window
Over 60 field collections from ethnomusicologists dating from the mid-20th century to the early 21st century. Audio recordings, videos, field notebooks, and journals in this resource document musical traditions and how music interacts with different societies and cultures all over the globe.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007 This link opens in a new window
Documents and collections from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world, with close attention given to the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social-justice perspective and the continued existence of slavery today.

For more primary source collections, see the Primary Sources: History research guide.

3 ways to find primary sources

Use SuperSearch to find Primary Sources

SuperSearch can also be used to find primary sources.

Enter your search terms and then, on the results page, use the publication date filter to find sources created during a particular time period. You can also filter by content type, such as newspaper articles or government documents.

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Key Websites

Anthurium
A Caribbean Studies Journal
Tout Moun--Caribbean Journal of Cultural Studies
An open access, peer-reviewed, academic online journal for cutting-edge research in Cultural Studies produced in and about the Caribbean.
MoAD: Museum of the African Diaspora
"MoAD, a contemporary art museum, celebrates Black cultures, ignites challenging conversations, and inspires learning through the global lens of the African Diaspora." (from their About Us page) Includes videos, digital exhibitions, educator resources, and more.
Global African History - BlackPast.org
An online, scholarly reference guide to African history across the globe.